Open Data for Buncombe Is Underway

Code for Asheville’s February community night, on Valentine’s Day, was
dedicated to love of open data—specifically, to our plan to push for an
open data policy for Buncombe County government. In 2015, Code for
Asheville members and supporters led the initiative to pass an open data policy
for the City of Asheville, a policy that laid the groundwork for our
more recent work around policing. Now it’s time for Buncombe County to
do the same.

There’s a lot of reasons for the County to get on board. After the
corruption charges that have been in the news so often lately,
implementing open data would be a low-cost way to begin building back
community trust by nurturing a culture of transparency. It also saves
staff hassle by reducing the amount of time needed to fulfill frequent
records requests that could be automated, and it encourages civic
engagement by making it possible for residents to directly interact with
the data that matter to them.

So how do we make it happen? Former captains Scott Barnwell and Eric
Jackson have been pulling the first components together since last fall,
and last week we sat down to turn them into a project. After a planning
discussion, we broke into groups to begin the work. Some of our members
began collecting background research to help make our case, like the
fact that several North Carolina counties already have open data
portals. Others discussed the draft policy itself.

The next steps are to start meeting with county commissioners
and staff whose support will be needed to pass the policy. Do you live
in Buncombe County but outside Asheville? Please let us know! We have
plenty of Asheville residents on the team, but the other district
commissioners will care more about what their own constituents want. If
you’re willing to meet in a small group with your county commissioner,
we need your help. We’re also looking for people who can link us up with
other organizations that could help us round up public support, later
in the year.